Apparatuses are known for simulating driving land vehicles, which comprise a main frame to which a seating element for the driver, command means that can be actuated by the user, such as a steering wheel, brake, clutch and accelerator pedals, and a projection screen onto which the driving environment is projected in which the driver is immersed during the simulation are associated.
The frame can be selectively moved by a mechanical kinematism which comprises a plurality of telescopic actuators, constrained to the frame and to a fixed support base, to define a kinematic and hexapod structure. The actuators move the frame in space both by translating it along the three coordinate axes, and also by providing rotations around said axes. In other words, the frame can be moved in all its six degrees of freedom.
These types of known simulation apparatuses mostly derive from aeronautical applications and are not very suitable for the simulation of land vehicles. This is because their performance is very limited and the reproduction of the driving sensations experienced by the driver of a land vehicle is not very faithful. These disadvantages are due to the fact that the movements of a land vehicle require the spatial kinematism, for example the hexapod type, to develop high accelerations to simulate the yawing and the longitudinal and lateral translations.
The structural conformation of this known simulation apparatus is therefore not optimized for the actions it has to effect. It must also be added that known simulation apparatuses are extremely bulky in order to compensate said limits.
Simulation apparatuses are also known which comprise a mobile base translatable along guides disposed transverse to each other, and which allow to move the mobile base on a plane. The frame is installed on the mobile base, and can be moved by a hexapod type kinematism as described above.
These known simulation apparatuses, although they are developed to simulate driving land vehicles, are also very bulky, difficult to make and to manage, and very expensive.
An apparatus to simulate driving a land vehicle is also known, for example described in WO-A-2013/114179, which comprises a mobile platform and a fixed platform having a flat surface on which the mobile platform is positioned resting and sliding thereon. In particular, linear actuators are connected to the fixed platform and the mobile platform to determine a sliding movement of the latter on the fixed platform.
Apparatuses are also known for carrying out mechanical tests on motor vehicles, described for example in FR-A-2.931.237, apparatuses for carrying out aerodynamic tests on motor vehicles, one of which is described for example in US-A-2015/0000392, and apparatuses for carrying out impact tests on motor vehicles, one of which is described in DE-A-198.02.590. However, these apparatuses cannot be used for simulating the driving of land vehicles because they are not able to generate displacements of the vehicle such as to induce in the driver actions sufficient to simulate the acceleration/deceleration of a vehicle in all the directions of movement of said vehicle. In fact, due to their structural conformation, these apparatuses are not able to generate displacements in two coordinated directions on a plane and rotations around an axis orthogonal to the movement plane in order to simulate the actions of rolling, yawing, pitching and accelerations/decelerations that normally affect a motor vehicle.
One purpose of the present invention is to obtain an apparatus to simulate driving a land vehicle.
Another purpose of the present invention is to obtain an apparatus to simulate driving a land vehicle which allows to increase the time the driver is exposed to accelerations and hence to provide a more realistic simulation of the inertia environment to which the driver is subjected during driving.
The Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain these and other purposes and advantages.